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Oakland’s New Recycling Fleet

Large Trucks With Small Environmental Footprints

To provide clean and efficient curbside recycling services, California Waste Solutions has purchased an entire fleet of more than 40 CNG (natural gas) trucks to pick up Oakland’s recycling curbside and at local businesses. But CWS didn’t just buy a few trucks off the showroom floor. We had our new trucks designed specifically for Oakland’s neighborhoods.

We built our new trucks, “The Oakland Way.”

First, we found a company that started in Oakland. The Peterbilt truck company began when a lumber entrepreneur bought Oakland’s Fageol Motors in 1938 to build logging trucks.

After selecting Peterbilt, we sent one of our most experienced drivers to the factory to tell the engineers about the special requirements of driving large trucks on Oakland streets. Our streets narrow quickly. We have to watch out for bikers, children and seniors. We have hills and flatlands. We have to make sure that when we hop out of our trucks to make pick ups, the trucks are safe and won’t move, even on the steepest of hills.

On top of that, our drivers, most of who live in or come from Oakland, have to work in our trucks every day. Our trucks are their places of work. Their trucks need to be comfortable, efficient, informative high tech and highly functional.

It is hard to believe, but an average driver gets in and out of a truck more than 700 times in an average workday. That takes a pounding on the truck and the driver. So we designed our trucks to be Oakland tough.

Our trucks are loaded with high tech equipment to enhance safety and efficiency. We have cameras in the rear, on each side and in some cases, in the truck cab. Each truck is equipped with a multi-function camera monitor, two-way radio, security systems and GPS devices that allow us to document service to every location on our routes.

Only after the trucks were designed to comply with the special requirements of working positively in Oakland’s neighborhoods did we order more than $6 millions in new trucks to serve our city.